This invention is concerned with a method of reducing facial aging and an appliance which is intended to be worn in the mouth during an exercise programme which, over time, can lead to a reduction in facial aging.
Pivot appliances have been used in dentistry since the 1930s to alleviate pain experienced by patients suffering from misaligned jaws, caused by inclines of the teeth. The original purpose of the pivot appliance was to separate the jaws so that inclines of the teeth would not dictate how the jaws met and thereby allow the bite of the patient to be adjusted to a more comfortable position. Use of the appliance on a temporary basis would allow the facial muscles to relax, resulting in the jaw and the condyle in the temporo mandibular joint (tmj) resting in an unrestrained position. This consequently would result in relief of pain associated with the tmj disorder.
The pivot appliance was made from a plaster mould of the patient's mouth, which mould was made by taking an impression of the lower teeth with a dental impression material. From this impression, a mould was made in plaster, which was an exact duplicate of the patient's lower jaw. This mould was then used to make a pivot appliance from a rigid moulding material, which would include wire clips to fit the appliance in the patient's mouth. The optimal thickness of the moulding material of the appliance that provided the biting surface was determined e.g. by using the command swallowing technique to establish the correct biting position for the particular patient. The patient would wear the fitted appliance under the direction and supervision of a dentist for such time until relief of pain was achieved. The appliance was then removed. The problem with this temporary procedure was that it sometimes tended to provide only temporary relief: after the appliance had been removed, there was a tendency for the jaws to return over time back to their original, painful biting position.
Some dentists would advocate that the bite of the patient had to be permanently altered to achieve permanent relief from tmj disorder. In such circumstances, orthodontic treatment was usually employed, to change the position of the teeth or by crowning the teeth.
In 1996, Dr N. K. Mohindra published a paper, in the British Dental Journal, entitled “A preliminary report on determining the vertical height of occlusion by the position of the mandible in the swallowing technique”. In this paper, Dr Mohindra reported that a pivotal appliance could be used to determine the increase of the vertical dimension and resulted in dramatic increases in the vertical dimension of occlusion, e.g. by up to 19 mm, beyond the normal resting position of the mandible without patients experiencing problems. Prior to this report, doctors and dentists had considered that the vertical dimension should not be increased by more than about 2-3 mm and definitely not beyond the resting position of the jaw. The appliance used in these experiments was made in a laboratory by a trained and approved dental technician.
In 2002, Dr Mohindra published a second paper in the British Dental Journal, entitled “The effect of increasing vertical dimension on facial aesthetics”. In this paper, Dr Mohindra reported that 80% of patients whose vertical dimension had been increased permanently by the use of a pivot appliance thought they looked between 5 and 20 years younger, and that these views were backed up by an independent panel who studied before and after photographs of the patients and reached same conclusions.
Subsequently, Dr Mohindra developed a facial rejuvenator which improved facial aesthetics without permanently increasing vertical dimension of occlusion. The rejuvenator, like the earlier dental appliance, required to be custom made for each patient in a laboratory by a trained dental technician. The rejuvenator comprised a substantially U-shaped layer formed from a durable, non-deformable material having a softening point over 100° C. which was custom moulded to fit over all the teeth on the lower jaw and which in use provided a bite plate. Two projections extended from the surface of the bite plate and were positioned on the bite plate over at least a part of the first molar tooth on both sides of the jaw. The projections were made of a durable, non-deformable material having a softening point over 100° C., and were custom moulded to the vertical height of occlusion for each patient, as determined by the command swallowing technique.
The rejuvenator was removable and so only increases the vertical dimension of occlusion for the short period of time when the appliance is in the mouth of the patient. The rejuvenator was based on the original pivot appliance and is made in the same way, i.e. in a laboratory by a trained and approved dental technician.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,794 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,539,943 disclose a dental appliance for use by athletes during periods of exertion. The appliance consists of an occlusal posterior pad made of quadruple composite material comprising four layers of distinct materials, further comprising a first layer of a durable, resilient material, a second layer of non-softenable, flexible material, a third layer of a hard, very durable material, and a fourth layer of softenable material, engageable with the occlusal surfaces to space apart the upper and lower teeth, to absorb shock and clenching stress. An adjustable arch adapted to expand and contract to be moulded to the palate is provided connecting the posterior pads together with the mouth and out of the way of the tongue to maintain the position of the occlusal posterior pads within the mouth during use and to prevent loss of the pads such as by swallowing. The appliance may be fitted using a boil and bite technique, for example by a doctor or dentist, with no requirement for customized laboratory moulding processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,523 discloses an anti-snoring device having a dental overlay portion and a guide ramp portion slidably mounted in the dental portion. The device may be fitted using a boil and bite technique, for example by a doctor or dentist, with no requirement for customized laboratory moulding processes.